A touch of Spring

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Dana Burrell

ISP! … or in our family’s language:

It’s So Pretty!

Yes, It’s snowing again. Now, don’t get me wrong… it IS pretty, but it’s been so white here for quite a while that I’m longing for some color… and Spring is still a month away. I’d love a house filled with greenery and flowers but we live with an adorable but destructive cat. Nothing is safe. Up ’till now this has forced me to give all gifts of plants and bouquets to my friends and neighbors.

But I’ve had an ah-ha moment! It seems she disdains anything in the narcissus family. I was able to grow paperwhites this winter and I’ve had a vase of daffodils in the window to which she’s only reacted with mild curiosity. She’s a tricolor with an erratic temperament so I take nothing for granted… into my sketchbook they go!

I’m grateful for a touch of Spring as the snow keeps falling.

Watch… Then Draw.

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Dana Burrell

I’m a big fan of an artist from the Netherlands, Koosja Koene. She’s a prolific artist and blogger, teaches online classes and submits recipe pages to They Draw and Cook. She is one busy woman! I really love her short drawing videos she uploads on Tuesdays, appropriately named: Draw Tip Tuesday! They’re so much fun and her enthusiasm is infectious!

Last week I spent an afternoon with Koosje and my watercolors. I watched her paint an orange and then tried it myself. It’s not really a paint-along technique since her videos are greatly sped up but it’s helpful to watch her technique. I’ve nowhere the skill as Koosje but I’m still rather pleased with my first attempt.

I then watched one on Do It Yourself Postcards. She divided the page and drew small simplified thumbnail sketches of shirts… all types of shirts. Koosje colored them with colored pencil but I chose to use watercolor. I might try her suggestion to paint a collection of shoes next time… or even handbags. Goodness knows I have TONS!

She’s a wealth of knowledge and inspiration and her videos are a sure bet to kick you out of the winter doldrums.

Koosje’s collected videos can also be found on her YouTube video channel as well. There are over 50 but they’re short. If you have self control you won’t have to watch them all in an afternoon like I did! 😉

Breaking a Slump

Posted on February 4, 2014 by Dana Burrell

Today as I got on the treadmill for my regular 50 minute trek I pulled out my iPod and plugged in my earphones.

HORRORS!!! … the battery had no juice!

Now I shouldn’t have been shocked by this. I’ve been in a bit of a slump. Two weeks have passed without me going to the gym. My music just sat in the bag, all its charge draining away. This slump has also invaded my artistic life. Sure, I’ve been working on lessons for a class I’m taking… but my daily personal journal? … the one I take with me everywhere… uh, no new entries.

So I gave myself a kick in the butt, put on my gear and got back on the treadmill. I was a bit concerned about my lack of tunes. Could I go the distance? Would I give up early?

I did not! In fact, I had an amazing workout! And no, I didn’t walk longer or harder, nor did I break any records. But I did have breakthrough. No longer bound to mentally sing along with my playlist, my brain was free to just wander. I planned this post and another and decided how I wanted to finish a few sketchbooks I’m binding. I even decided how to break the stalemate I have with my journal.

So, next time you find yourself in a slump try a little exercise and be sure to try it at least once without a soundtrack. Just go where your body and mind takes you.

Why Keep a Journal

Posted on January 30, 2014 by Dana Burrell

Your journal can be a memory keeper and a tool for inner exploration. It is a receptacle for your hopes and dreams and an incubator for your creative expression. You can create a journal meant for public consumption, as an Art Journal would be, or it can be private, a place where you can bare your soul. You can use it to hold ideas not quite formed… a place where you can return time and time again to revisit those ideas and build on them.

In the last few weeks I’ve watched this video innumerable times. It speaks to me. I do bind my own journals, not exactly like these, but my intent is the same. My journal is my friend and accompanies me as I travel through life. A place for reflection.

Many thanks to Mary Ann Moss of Dispatch from LA for bringing this to my attention in her blog post.

I’ll show you a few of my journals next time… ’till then, please enjoy listening to the birds and visualizing yourself inside these lush images of Penland, North Carolina where Paulus and his students create their books, or as Paulus says himself… “portable studio”.

Soul’s Kitchen from TOTM Film on Vimeo

Watercolor Paint-along

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Dana Burrell

I’m still on a John Singer Sargent high!

On the MFA website there’s a “Learn Sargent’s Technique” video where an artist, Monika de Vries Gohlke, demonstrates John Singer Sargent’s wet wash technique. I watched it a few times and this morning decided to paint along.

Have I nailed it? … not by a long shot! But it was fun and that’s what matters.

Last days at the MFA!

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Dana Burrell

Road trip! …words that make my heart sing!

We set off Monday morning on a long awaited excursion to see the John Singer Sargent exhibit at the MFA… Museum of Fine Arts. And oh what a glorious day it was! Sunny and warm and no accidents on the highway to slow us down. We did make a wrong turn but even that surprise didn’t ruin our day. Google’s map girl to the rescue! She led us through downtown Boston twisting and turning past plenty of city landmarks.

Thank goodness for smartphones with navigation. She led us directly to the museum.

It does my heart good to see how many young people were in line; the gallery was packed!

The John Singer Sargent Watercolors exhibit was everything I expected and more. Almost 100 pieces are exhibited in the Gund Gallery on the lowest level of the Art of the Americas wing.

Museum rules prevent me from sharing the photos I took of his work but follow the links here to see two of my favorites. La Biancheria (1910) shows laundry drying in the sun. JSS is masterful as he paints the whites of the shirts and sheets along with the shadows. Boboli (1906) is a painting of a statue in the Boboli Gardens in Florence, Italy. I was completely taken by his treatment of the shadows on the pedestal. If you zoom in to see either of these images just imagine me, my eyes just inches from the paper. I was mesmerized.

I highly recommend a visit but unfortunately, there are only days left to see the exhibit in Boston… it closes Monday January 20th.

Of course, if you prefer, you can always see it in Houston, Texas, March 2 – May 26. The drive may be a bit longer. I’m sure Google’s map girl will help you too.

Sketchbook Project 2014 Finished!

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Dana Burrell

I’ve been absent these last few days as I finished working on my entry for the Sketchbook Project 2014. I felt the need to paint and decorate the covers… make it a real atlas.

This was my first time using colored gesso and boy. was I surprised how gritty it was! The book just wasn’t pleasant to hold. But how to fix it? I tried many things out on one of my journal pages. Do I letter directly? Which pen? Should I stamp? Collage?

What a mess!

But now I had a plan! On went the stickers and the stamped lettering, layered between coats of matte medium. StazOn is my friend. It truly is permanent… no smearing as the matte medium was brushed on.

But I still wasn’t happy. The matte medium made the book feel slightly sticky in my hand. Krylon Workable Spray Fixitif to the rescue. A single thin coat was all it needed. Remember, this stuff can be flammable and toxic, please spray in a well ventilated area. I did a quick spray outside and then brought it into dry on the stove with the exhaust fan on. After an hour it was completely dry.

SBP Cover

I’ve had these stickers for years just waiting for the perfect project.

The workspace isn’t as neat as it was before and that’s a good thing!

I’ve Chosen My Word for 2014

Posted on January 4, 2014 by Dana Burrell

Intentions, not resolutions… that’s what it’s come down to.

Resolutions often focus on the negative, on resolving to fix something wrong, to quit something. Often these resolutions are broken in under a week. Sigh… more negativity.

But an intention is positive. I will… I can!

Each year the blogosphere is buzzing with choosing a word for the year. It’s meant to express an intention for the upcoming year and become a mantra to help each of us stay the course. In 2012 my word wasn’t a word, it was a phrase. I just couldn’t seem to distill it down to one – single – word.

If not now… when?

It propelled me to participate in the International Fake Journal Month and led me to sign up for book binding classes among other things. It served me well.

2013 arrived and my word screamed to me!

Simplify!

Out with the old and in with the new. It’s been a year of change and decluttering, so much that I actually feel lighter. My quilting UFOs were weighing me down and all the fabric I was never going to use, a bookcase full, found new homes with my fellow quilt guild members. The decluttering went deep and beyond my studio and extended to divesting myself of family items I thought I’d carry around forever. Now, a photo, a sketch and the memories of good times are enough.

So 2014 arrived and my word came to me immediately!

Stretch.

This blog is a stretch. Yes, I’ll upload my artwork but writing about it and sharing a bit of myself? Oh yeah, it’s a stretch alright. Baby steps.

This is a year of possibilities for all of us. If having a word intrigues you but you need ideas then please take a look at the words Jane LaFazio accumulated. Maybe one of those words will speak to you.

What’s your word for 2014?

Sketchbook Project Update!

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Dana Burrell

All the holiday hoopla really cut into my sketching time and now the deadline looms. Wednesday, January 15th, 2014. There’s still lots to do on my project but things are… as they say… progressing. Whoever “they” are.

Atlas of… that’s my theme.

I originally had painted all the page spreads in my book so now I’m filling the book with line drawings of well-known landmarks of the world. I love the irregular lines my PPBP, Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, makes on the pages… the india ink seems to fade to a charcoal gray. It’s organic and subdued… not jarring. I see this book as a travelog you can hold in the palm of your hand as I take you east around the globe visiting my vacation wish list!

I pre-painted these pages before I even thought of my theme. Now, I’m thinking serendipity is my friend. I think the colors work well with the sketch locations. I like how I have the gold streaming through the Eiffel Tower and especially the pinky-gold… it gives the Sphinx the feel of the desert sun.

Hmmmmmm… 2 continents so far. Will I manage to visit them all?

IFJM…skylarkkarma.wordpress.com

Posted on December 26, 2013 by Dana Burrell

The last few years I’ve participated in Roz Stendahl’s IFJM… International Fake Journal Month for the uninitiated. It’s a chance for journal keepers to put on a different persona and journal as if you really were this individual. Not forever, just a month… the month of April. Just long enough to get a feel for the difference between this character and yourself. It’s a chance to be the person you always wanted to be or a chance to try out that career path you were fascinated with but never took for one reason or another.

As Roz says… “Life’s so short, why live only one?”

It’s possible for a Fake journal to be totally written but I’ve chosen to create visual journals. In the past I’ve uploaded my pages to a Flickr account but have found that problematic so I’ve created a new blog to hold both my previous years efforts and my fake journals going forward. I’ve already started uploading my 2012 journal and will follow with 2013 before I start in on the planning for this year’s journal. For those of you who have seen this before please bear with me as I go though my retrospective. My intention is to be current by March when I’ll start planning the 2014 experience.

If you’re interested in IFJM as a concept please visit Roz Stendahl’s Official International Fake Journal Blog. If you’re interested in learning more about Roz and her art please check out Roz Wound Up.

If you’re interested in my IFJM blog please go to skylarkkarma.wordpress.com

As if one blog wasn’t enough!

Dana Burrell… Art

… adventures in creativity.